


I Love You Too

by TheArcher



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-20
Updated: 2012-10-20
Packaged: 2017-11-16 17:15:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/541902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheArcher/pseuds/TheArcher
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After almost dying, Jackson starts saying "I love you"</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Love You Too

They had to sneak back into the hospital and find another body bag to put Jackson in.

Scott’s mom told a nurse that Jackson’s body must have gone into shock and slowed his heartbeat because she found him breathing. They were too shocked to see him alive to wonder why they hadn’t been able to find the body for three hours.

The marks from Derek’s claws were in the same place as Jackson had pierced himself and luckily seemed to be healing at a more human pace. By the time his wounds had been treated and wrapped, his parents were already there, waiting to be let inside.

The first person Jackson said ‘I love you’ to was his mother. He had just come home from the hospital and his mom held his hand as he lay in bed. She wasn’t crying anymore but her voice still shook as she kissed his hand and said, “I’m so glad I still have you.” She got up and went to walk out the door when she was stopped by his tired voice.

“Mom?” Jackson’s mom turned around. His head was turned into the pillow and he gripped the sheets hard and didn’t say anything. She started to go again when he said, “I love you.”

She gasped and looked at him again but his eyes were closed. She knew he wasn’t asleep but she didn’t need to push him. His mom walked back over and kissed his forehead gently. “I love you Jackson. I love you with all my heart and more.” Then she walked out and softly closed the door behind her. Jackson could hear his father ask how he was.

She simply went, “He said it.”

-

When Jackson knocked on Danny's bedroom door he heard a thumb of something dropping to the ground before feet shuffled up to the door.

“Did they call? Is he-“ Danny opened the door and paused at the sight of Jackson. Danny let out a long breath. “Come on,” he said. “Get in before you get knifed again.”

They sat on Danny’s bed in silence for awhile, neither of them knowing what to say.

Jackson started. “I’m sorry I’ve been worrying you. I know I’ve been… off for a while now.”

“You know who did it don’t you?” Jackson looked up, confused. “You know who stabbed you on the field. That’s why you told me to stay away. You got in trouble with someone.”

“It’s hard to explain. It’s not completely over now. I’m probably still putting you in danger by being here.”

“I listened to you, you know. When I saw you collapse on the field, I was scared and I wanted to see you, but I didn’t leave the goal cause you told me to.”

Jackson gave a small humorless laughed and wrapped Danny in a hard hug. “You know you’re my best friend right?” Danny smiled and squeezed back.

“Of course I do. Nice to hear you say it though.”

Jackson took a deep breath and let it out. “I love you Danny.” The other boy stiffened for a moment before burying his face in Jackson’s neck.

“I love you Jackson.” Danny pulled away and Jackson ignored him wiping away a few tears. “And you know what? You’re exactly my type.”

Jackson chuckled. “I knew it.”

-

Saying it for the first time was pretty easy. Saying it again was surprisingly difficult. His parents understood. Danny never even mentioned it, but Lydia seemed almost expectant. She would say she loved him every time they were together, but Jackson couldn’t find it in him to repeat the declaration for several months. She never pushed him for it, just gave him a small smile that said _next time_.

Jackson was lying on Lydia’s lap in her room while she played with his hair. For once The Notebook sat quietly in its DVD case and the end credits to G.I. Jane were rolling, neither of them bothering to get up and change it.

“It’s nice isn’t it?” Lydia asked. “For things to be how they used to be.”

“This isn’t how it used to be.”

“Well I mean your eyes glow and you get really bitchy around the full moon, but we’re together again like before.”

“Not like before. Better.” He turned his head to kiss her wrist and inside his head he was yelling at himself to _just say it, she already knows, just do it._

“Yeah,” Lydia said. “I got tired of The Notebook.”

“I would hope. You made us watch it almost every date night for two months.”

“I got tired of it after the first month.”

Jackson raised an eyebrow and she smirked and shrugged. He laughed at the realization and buried his head in his girlfriend’s lap.

“I love you,” he said through small laughs.

“What did you say?”

“Lydia, don't start.”

“No I’m serious. I really didn’t hear what you said.”

He stopped laughing at looked up at her eyes. “I said I love you.”

She smiled. “That’s what I thought you said.”

-

Saying “I love you” would never stop being a big deal to Jackson, but he tried to make it less of a announcement, more casual. Once he allowed himself to get closer to the pack he tried to sneak it out at the same time as Scott did, but Scott told people he loved them a lot. It was kind of sickening.

 _I love you. I care about you. You’re important to me._ Every day! There was still a part of Jackson that saw McCall as a threat. Still a part that sung Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better when he was around, but his pride was not nearly as strong as years of repressed emotions and no matter how much he wanted to say it, there was never the right time.

Until one day, when it seemed like they were backed in a corner and no one could figure out how to get out when _Stiles_ of all people came up with a brilliant plan.

“That’s perfect!” Jackson said. “I love you Stilinski.”

“Woah,” Stiles said. “I think I just hallucinated. Could you say it again?”

“Come on. Let’s go put your plan in action.”

“Could I have that in writing please? Preferably in permanent ink on frilly stationary with hearts on it.”

-

It was weird.

More than weird.

Weird couldn’t even come close to describing how Jackson felt to be standing at his parent’s grave. His _biological_ parents. His parents who were killed in a car crash and never gave him up at all. When he was young and he was told he was adopted, he felt as if his whole world was a lie. That was like part two.

Jackson wanted to hide. He didn’t know from what but he felt too vulnerable. There weren’t any statues or trees around their graves. He was right in the middle of everything. If anyone had been passing by they could look and tell that Jackson Whittemore was mourning for people he had never even known.

He sat down and reached out to touch one of the gravestones but stopped himself. He wasn’t sure why he was even there. What did he think this site would do for him? He didn’t feel comforted. He felt the same, only different. He felt calm and restless, confusion and understanding, all at once.

He didn’t feel like crying but his eyes watered anyway. Was it normal to cry for people you’d never known? They still lived, whether you witnessed it or not. There were lives lost. There was a whole story about the two of them. And Jackson. For a short amount of time Jackson had been part of their story. Had they planned him? Were they excited? Would they have ended up putting him up for adoption anyway? Were their parents still alive or was there another gravesite with Jackson’s name on it?

It was overwhelming and taking a breath through his tears felt like a huge effort.

“So,” Jackson said into the air. “I guess you’re my mother and father. I don’t really know anything about you, but I guess it’s good to know where you are for sure.” He spoke slowly, but somehow, bit by bit, he managed to get the words out. “I’ve always wondered. My whole life I wondered where you were and why I wasn’t there too. I hope you were good people. I hope you were better than the jackass your son turned out to be.” Jackson wrung his hands together. What was he supposed to do? Was there a protocol for talking to dead relatives?

He remembered in elementary school when Stiles’ mom died. Sometimes Jackson would see him going to her grave and talking. Once he heard what sounded like him catching her up on his life, but Jackson couldn’t do that or they’d be there for weeks. He let out a small humorless laugh at himself.

“I don’t even know why I’m talking really. Just trying to get things out to say… To say that whoever you were, I’m sure you would’ve been great parents but, um, I’m actually kind of fond of the ones I ended up with. So I guess it’s a crappy little silver lining.”

He leaned forward and put his hand on the gravestone of his mother. He had to talk. He’d spent too long covering up his feelings with the wrong words. He _had_ to talk.

“Whoever you were, whatever you did… whether you were as messed up as me or as flawless as a saint…” Jackson closed his eyes and forced the words out. “I love you. I love you because you were people. You lived and breathed and made choices and those choices are the reason that I’m alive today.” Jackson smiled and tightened his grip. “Even though being alive kind of sucks sometimes, thanks for giving me the option.”

He sat quietly for a while, forgetting about time and just continuing on in that one moment.

He didn’t know how long he’d been there but when he finally stood up, he felt lighter.

-

Her name was Ashley but she liked to call herself Warrior Princess Mupunzel, a combination of Mulan and Rapunzel, her favorite princesses. Not the most imaginative name but she was only eight and Jackson thought she was perfect anyway.

He didn’t know when he decided he wanted to adopt, but when he started thinking about children it seemed like the only option. What kind of person would Jackson be if he didn’t do his part in making sure some child didn’t feel as abandoned as he had felt?

When he took Ashley home, he told her stories. Over the years, he had gotten better at speaking about real emotions. He told her how he thought being adopted meant he wasn’t wanted and how wrong he was. He told her about how some things happen for a reason but some things are just sad. He told her how you never knew which was which right away, but you had to try to make the best of both of them. And when he was called into the school, he told her she didn’t have to hit people to prove she was stronger than them. She didn’t have to be stronger than them at all.

And at night he would tell her stories of wolves that weren’t so bad and sometimes he would let his eyes glow. He told her she was the best daughter a dad could have and he couldn’t have made her any better had he picked her out himself.

“But you did pick me out daddy.” Ashley would always say.

Jackson would always respond, “I don’t think so. I think this is one of those things that was meant to be.”

He would hug her and kiss her forehead and say, “I love you,” and she would say, “I love you too.”


End file.
